Ruben Studdard
Ruban Studdard, winner of the second season of American Idol, was the first male to hold the title and the only one to be voted the winner until the fifth season. Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1978, Studdard grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. His first vocal performance was at the Rising Star Baptist Church at the tender age of three. During his childhood, he often sang gospel solos at church. He also played football in high school, which earned him an athletic scholarship to Alabama A&M University.
During his stint on American Idol, Studdard became known as "Velvet Teddy Bear" among his many fans. He was also well known for wearing shirts that were emblazoned with the numbers "205". The numbers actually represented his area code in Birmingham, Alabama and were considered to be a "shout out" to his beloved hometown. He was voted the winner over Clay Aiken by a slim 134,000 votes.
His first album, Soulful, set a record for the most first week sales by any American Idol winner, moving an amazing 400,000 copies. His single "Sorry 2004" charted well and received substantial airplay. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for the single "Superstar", though he lost to his own longtime idol, Luther Vandross.
Ruban Studdard's next release was a gospel album entitled I Need An Angel. Although the first week sales were far weaker than his debut album at 96,000 copies, it was the #1 selling Gospel album in the first week and went on to sell a respectable 500,000 copies. After the release of this album, Studdard decided to work to lose a substantial amount of weight, due to a history of weight-related illness in his family. With his new diet and fitness plan, Studdard dropped over 70 pounds.
Studdard's third album, The Return, was released in October of 2006. Although the album opened fairly strong at #8 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, the sales numbers fell sharply in the following weeks. The single "Change Me" did reach #1 on the Urban Contemporary charts and Stuaddard continued touring. However, in December 2007, the artist was dropped from J Records. His former label indicated that the reason was poor sales of his most recent album.
In 2009, Studdard released the gospel album Love Is on the Sony Records label Hickory Records. Produced by the all-star team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the album received mostly positive reviews and debuted at No. 36 on the Billboard chart. Studdard toured with Season One finalist Clay Aiken in 2010. He also tried his hand at musical theater, headlining the revival tour of the Broadway musical Ain't Misbehavin' in the role of Fats Waller.
Ruban Studdard Offical Website
|
